BEIJING - China on Tuesday continued to insist that dialogue and negotiations are the only correct ways to address current tensions and realize a long-lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jiang Yu said growing tensions have further proven the urgency of a resumption of the Six-Party Talks, which group China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia, Japan and the United States.

"We've been calling for peace and dialogue, and we believe that as long as all the parties sit down to talk, we will eventually find the solution," he said.

Kaixin OpEd - Even Kaixin is getting a little weary of these endless talks that go nowhere and pander to North Korea's ego.

Why can't America and China work out a mutually acceptable agreement on the Korean peninsular and enforce it ........... Economically that is.

Although perhaps China could go into North Korea and bang a few heads if it had to.

CANCUN, Mexico -- China on Sunday presented to the world its low-carbon strategies and practices at the China Day event on the sidelines of the ongoing UN climate change conference.

During the event, with the theme of "Low-carbon Development: China in Action," China showcased its low-carbon development at different levels through practice sharing, documentaries and panel discussions which gathered officials, regional and international representatives and green entrepreneurs from China and around the world.

China's central bank may raise interest rates this weekend to enshrine its shift to a "prudent" monetary policy in the face of rising inflation, Reuters reported on Dec 7, citing the China Securities Journal.

The paper said that this weekend offered a "sensitive window" for a rate rise, which would be the country's second in its current tightening cycle.

The newspaper said the timing was right for such a move with official monthly economic indicators, notably the consumer price index (CPI), likely to show an increase in inflationary pressure when released on Monday, Dec 13.

"With reference to the central bank's record of raising interest rates just ahead of the release of CPI, this weekend will provide a window for a possible policy change," the newspaper said, without citing any source.

BEIJING - An official from Central China's Henan province has been arrested after killing five teenagers while driving drunk on Sunday night, in the latest in a spate of serious drunken-driving cases across the nation.

Tianhe-1A makes fast work of ensuring safety of national projects. Zhou Wa in Beijing reports.

A scientist conducts a system test of supercomputer Tianhe-1, the predecessor of Tianhe-1A, in Tianjin. The computer was capable of making a quadrillion (a thousand billion) floating point operations per second.

A Chinese benefactor is being sought to save from closure the home of one of the key figures in China's opening up to the West, Andrew Moody reports

The house of former British prime minister Sir Edward Heath, which has been open to the public for the past two years, could be put up for sale despite being a popular visitor attraction. The property, called Arundells, which is in the center of the English cathedral city of Salisbury and which dates back to the 13th century, contains a number of valuable Chinese artifacts, including a pair of Qianlong vases gifted to Sir Edward by former chairman Mao Zedong on the British ex-premier's first famous visit to Beijing in 1974.

The trustees are seeking permission to sell the house, which could fetch up to 6 million pounds ($9.45 million) since they argue it is losing money.

Yet a campaign group wanting to prevent the house's closure is hoping a Chinese philanthropist, or even an investor, comes forward to save it at the last minute.

Former British prime minister Sir Edward Heath meets former chairman Mao Zedong on his visit to Beijing in 1974.

A balanced outcome in Cancun and the Kyoto Protocol - China's top climate negotiator Su Wei explains two keywords to China Daily during an exclusive interview at the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico

After the recent artillery exchange on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea seems to be the only country that gained, but Pyongyang is drinking poison to curb its thirst. It is running head long down a road that leads to nowhere.

Is the Korean Peninsula heading toward a dangerous dead end?

Stability is a shared goal of all the countries involved. North Korea wishes to maintain a stable government; the South would like to see a stable border area.

It is in the interest of China to keep an uneventful situation on the Peninsula, and the US hopes to see its influence in Northeast Asia unchallenged. Japan and Russia hold attitudes similar to China's or the US'.

However, this shared goal is often interrupted by other interests, primarily, the pursuit of nuclear weapons by the North and its continuous provocation. In addition, the inconsistent policies of the US and South Korea toward Pyongyang also cause the North agitation, which in turn tends to overreact.

Strategic trust is almost zero among the players involved. The efforts China makes in promoting regional stability are often offset by US strategic intentions in the western Pacific. China's efforts also often get the cold shoulder by North Korea. The on again, off again, Six-Party talks best exemplify the difficulty.

The hard line approach of the US is unlikely to succeed on the Korean Peninsula. If it did succeed it would mean the failure of China's diplomacy and bring unbearable strategic risk to China. But it is equally impossible that China's moderate stance takes the lead, which suggests a much needed fundamental policy adjustment from the US, South Korea and Japan.

The stalemate will continue and test the tolerance of all the parties involved. But the way things stand now, South Korea will go on living under the shadow of the non-stop provocations of the North; while Pyongyang will continue suffering isolation and poverty, which is getting worse after each incident.

Among all the countries with a stake in the region, it looks like South Korea can and should take the initiative to adjust its policy toward the North. But, the question is, is it willing to do so?

The U.S is uneasy about China because China is so far removed from the American mindset.America has sought to contain China since 1949. It supported the Kuomintang (KMT or Chinese Nationalist Party) in China and then in Taiwan. America only opened the door to China in the 1970’s when they were more afraid of the potential of Russia, than of China.

America obviously underestimated the potential of a China, bought to its knees by the Cultural Revolution.

The rise and rise of China has startled America.

It sees China as a threat. Perhaps not in the immediate time scale, but in the future, when China is strong enough to threaten America. So the logic behind America’s policy of containment is understandable.

North Korea is chock-a-block with nuclear arms. China obviously does not want America sitting next door playing with those toys.

If China did not support North Korea, then South Korea would have taken over long ago. That would have meant Uncle Sam smiling and waving at China from right next door, only ducking down to the basement every so often to polish his nuclear bombs.

A US Carrier in the region is sending a strong message to North Korea, South Korea, China and the region.

In Kaixin’s opinion, North Korea might have some big toys to play with but it is unlikely China will allow the children to get out of control. Diplomacy dictates China’s response. But Kaixin suspects China is like a parent who smiles when their child is naughty while friends visit, then gives it a good clip under the ear when they leave. Certainly hope so, given the alternative.

Dialogue

A 30 Minute Current Affairs Programme on CCTV - 9 (In English) where current issues are discussed by experts from China and Internationally:

The four-day military exercises in our neighboring Yellow Sea did serve the purpose of warning the DPRK, but China is also alerted to the growing tensions under its nose. China is seen as the closest ally of a volatile country and plays a major role in stabilizing the regional situation.

But, with the expansion of China's economy and military, and the simmering debates about the territorial disputes, Beijing is coming under pressure to restrict its confidence and even foreign policy. China faces a duel daunting task from within and without about its peaceful rise.

This is a tough job that none of the rising powers could have done in our human history. Today, we take an insightful look into the regional tranformation of the geo-political map in East Asia, particularly the security assurance that is badly needed by all sides.

Vietnam starts a charm campaign by flirting with the idea of trading its Cam Ran Bay for security assurance, and for collecting very juicy annual rent. The US has built the military base and wants to extend its military umbrella upon invitation but Russia has been quietly negotiating about its return to the Asia-Pacific stronghold through a call of the cold-war nostalgia.Related stories

Stanley Lubman, a long-time specialist on Chinese law, teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and is the author of “Bird in a Cage: Legal Reform in China After Mao,” (Stanford University Press, 1999

China, the world’s largest polluter, has been adopting laws to control and reduce pollution since 1979, and there are frequent reports in the press emphasizing efforts to control pollution. But regardless of how many new environmental laws are adopted, enforcement remains a critical problem.

Google on Tuesday received praise from a Chinese government-backed Internet association, a rare occurrence for the U.S. company since it relocated its mainland China search service to Hong Kong earlier this year amid frustrations over hacking and government censorship.

For years Taiwan’s citizens and tourists alike have been bemused by the tourism bureau’s motto — “Taiwan, Touch Your Heart.” But with the island’s government pushing to attract a new class of tourists, the phrase may soon start to seem more apt.

BEIJING—Leaked U.S. diplomatic cables are shedding rare light on the personalities and opinions of Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang—the men tipped as China's next president and premier, respectively—while also revealing a surprising level of openness in their past dealings with the U.S. Embassy.

The combination of alcohol and civil servants has long been a headache for guardians of the Chinese government’s public image, but lately it has turned fatal.

Just as a storm of bad press over a deadly drunk-driving accident involving the son of a police official in Hebei Province has begun to blow over, Xinhua reports that a postal official has allegedly hit and killed five teenagers while driving drunk in Henan Province.

Speculators are pumping a wild price bubble for a fine wine whose market ride says a lot about macroeconomic trends

During the dotcom bubble, a lot of worthless companies with market capitalizations in the billions of dollars were trading on the NASDAQ exchange. Meanwhile, some really good companies were priced several times higher than their intrinsic worth. Selling these stocks before the bubble collapsed was the right thing to do.

CHINA has given global climate change talks an unexpected shot in the arm, offering for the first time to make its carbon emissions target binding, a move to encourage firmer action from developed nations.

China insisted its target - one of the most ambitious of the 190 countries at the talks in the resort town of Cancun - would remain voluntary. But chief negotiator Xie Zhenhua said: ''We will have binding targets … You can be assured that our voluntary emission reduction efforts will be honoured.''

It derives from a war-time formulation that is rarely heard in full: ''The policy in the enemy-occupied areas [is] a policy of concealing our crack forces, lying long under cover, accumulating our strength and biding our time.'' That wording is repeated several times in a secret directive from Communist Party headquarters about strengthening ''united front'' work during the anti-Japanese war.

Kaixin OpEd - Indeed. Kaixin often finds that the 'west' fails to read the full quote or study Chinese history.

Although Chinese authorities were quick to block access to the WikiLeaks website on the mainland, such censorship was hardly necessary. What the most recent leaks reveal about China is remarkably mundane, and will do little to damage Beijing or its foreign relations.

Pundits in the West have called for South Korea to meet fire with fire over the North's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, while the South's military feels it has missed a chance to demonstrate its capabilities. However, as the equilibrium of deterrence on the peninsula is so finely balanced, too aggressive a posture could lead to miscalculation and a war in which millions of Koreans would die.

Militant groups ousted from Central Asian states in the 1990s, led by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, have gathered enough strength in Pakistan to break out of their tribal hideouts and launch deadly attacks across the region and into Europe. While the groups are a major irritant for Islamabad’s ties with Central Asia, there is little Pakistan can do about them.

Kaixin OpEd - What happens in Central Asia is of direct relevance to China.

Fresh from recent exercises in the South China Sea, the People's Liberation Army's marines provide a model of what a smaller, modernized, highly trained and motivated 21st century Chinese force may look like, even as the amphibious and marine units comprise a small fraction of the nation's overall ground forces.

Mongolia is to build a 1,100 kilometer railroad linking two areas with vast natural resources. China, with its huge demand for such commodities, lies only a short distance away - yet will be deliberately unconnected.

Southern Mongolia is home to massive deposits of copper, gold and coking coal, conveniently located only 80 kilometers from its border with China, which is the largest consumer of these commodities.